Chapter XV: Operations (2)

There are various knives invented for the performance of neurotomy. That the writer most approves of was the invention of Mr. Woodger, the admirably practical veterinary surgeon of Bishops Mews, Paddington. The author has used this instrument himself, and seen it guided by other hands. In every case it has expedited the operation and thereby shortened the period of the animal's suffering.

To use this instrument.--After the nerve is raised, insert the
crooked point, with the edge toward the body of the horse; then
drive the knife forward. By this simple means the cutting portion of
the blade is brought violently in contact with the nerve, which is
excised at the proper point, and about an inch is left hanging out
below the incision.
]

The after-treatment of neurotomy consists in letting well alone, if all goes on rightly. Should pus make its appearance, bathe the wounds, thrice daily, with the solution of chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of water. Remove the bandages from the legs after the horse has entered the stable. The incisions heal more readily when exposed to the stimulating effects of the air. Place a cradle round the horse's neck, and feed liberally. Avoid all purgative medicine; you now want an injury repaired, and do not desire to reduce the vital energy.

When the wounds have healed, the horse may be gradually taken once more to work, but it should not be fully used. Excessive and too early labor is the cause of the many serious objections taken to a merciful operation. The horse for some period does not feel his foot. He does not flex the pastern as the hoof nears the ground. The foot is placed flat upon the earth, and with a kind of sensible jar, as though the animal had made "a false step." This peculiarity unfits the quadruped to trot upon stones, or hard roads, until it has learned "to handle its feet," or to accommodate the tread to the new condition of the hoof.

OPERATIONS--DIVISION OF THE TENDONS.

Many horses when standing knuckle over to such an extent as threatens to throw them upon their knees. Others can only put the toe of the hind leg to the ground. The natural use of the limb is equally injured in each case: the fore legs of the horse support the body and the burden: the hind legs propel the carcass and the load. Both are deformed by contraction of the perforans tendon; and both deformities are generally produced by excessive labor, inducing strain, though a few cases have come to the author's knowledge of animals being born thus afflicted. When we contemplate the huge frame of the horse, it seems more than fitted for all man's ordinary purposes. But country carriers have vans proportioned only to the extent of their custom; their carts are enlarged as their trade increases; but very seldom is the power which draws the load augmented in the same proportion. The horse, so agile and so beautiful, as long as it can move the cart is esteemed to be not over-weighted. It labors up hill, and then the carrier congratulates himself that the worst of the work is over; it may be for him, but it is not for his horse. All the stress in going down hill lies upon the back sinews; the animal has to put forth all its strength to check the downward impetus of the load. It is the same with other horses in the shafts of other vehicles. Three or four animals--according to the usual English fashion--may be attached to a load; but the weight which three strengths can draw upon level ground, when descending an inequality, then, never bears equally upon the leaders.

Clap of the back sinews is a common accident with all horses. The equine delight is the pleasure of the master. So entirely is the horse the slave of man, that it, by instinct, puts forth its utmost strength to attain anything in which its owner takes enjoyment. It does so regardless of its own probable sufferings. In racing, in hunting, in all kinds of pastime the horse will strain every nerve and even burst its strong vessels laboring to gratify an ungrateful proprietor. Who does not remember the old coaching days? The animals then appeared happy in their vocation. A well-appointed coach, trotting by the White Horse Cellar, was a sight to contemplate. However, follow the vehicle to the termination of the first stage. See the poor panting carcasses unharnessed--the perspiration lathering their sides, their veins swelling, their tails quivering, their nostrils jerking, and their limbs stiffened. Who then could regret that railroads were invented to indulge man's desire for speed? See, as the coach leaves the metropolis behind it, the cattle deteriorate. At last, behold life with swollen legs, stiff joints, and diseased feet made to propel the loaded vehicle. Who, properly regarding such a spectacle, and having a heart to feel, does not rejoice that a method of traveling has at length been invented which renders the employment of the lash to overcome the agonies of breathing flesh no longer imperative?

These fast abuses induced contraction of the perforans tendon in the front legs. There is, however, this difference between contraction in the anterior and posterior extremities--one hind leg only may be affected; but the author remembers no instance of one fore leg being alone involved.

When a tendon is sprained, it is usual to apply stimulating or fiery mixtures to that part, winding up the treatment with blisters and the heated iron. Notwithstanding such measures are very seldom successful, man seems incapable of learning anything where another has to bear the torture, and he will often endure a great deal of agony himself before an obvious idea can be awakened.

Such slowness is, however, very lamentable in the case of the horse. =Division of the tendons= was borrowed from the human surgeon by the veterinary practitioner. The operation, however, till very lately, remained as it was originally adopted. Human surgery had advanced; but veterinary practice stood motionless. At length, Mr. Varnell came from America, and instructed veterinarians in an improved mode of operating, which at this date should be universally practiced.

THE KNIFE EMPLOYED BY MR. VARNELL, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT THE ROYAL
VETERINARY COLLEGE.
]

A stout knife with a probed point, a curved blade, and a smooth, rounded back, is first obtained. Before the blade is inserted, the skin is divided, at the point selected for the operation, by the slight puncture of a lancet.

The leg is then flexed; the tendons are, by the position of the limb, rendered flaccid. The knife is next inserted sideways, behind the nerve and artery, under the tendons. This last act is not, however, in practice, very easy or very safe.

The edge of the knife is now toward the shoulder or haunch, and the vessels lie upon that side of the blade which is nearest to the bone. The operator now, by a simple motion of the hand, turns the cutting edge of the knife toward the posterior part of the limb. A man at the same moment takes hold of the leg and forces it straight; the perforans tendon is thus dragged against the knife, while the suspensory ligament and vessels are safe at the back of the blade. If the tendon be not divided without any effort on the part of the operator, he makes a sawing motion as he withdraws the knife. A slight sensation or a feeble sound often testifies the separation of the structure.

Often, if the contraction be not chronic, the strength of the extensor pedis muscle, when released from its opponent's force, is sufficient to straighten the fetlock. When the disease, however, has existed for any time, it requires some violence to break down the false attachments which have been formed. For this purpose the knee of a strong man is placed in front of the fetlock-joint, and the horse's foot is, by pulling hard, drawn forward.

The wound is then closed with a pin and twisted thread, as in neurotomy, and the animal, till junction is perfected, should be kept in the stable, as the shoe to be worn afterward is not favorable to progression. One week after the operation, a shoe, with a projecting piece at the toe about one inch and a half long, is to be put on the foot of the diseased limb. Five weeks after this, the shoe is to be replaced by one having the projecting point twice as long; and this last is to be worn till union is supposed to be perfected--till the expiration of three months at least.

THE SHOE TO BE WORN ONE WEEK AFTER DIVISION OF THE TENDON HAS BEEN
ACCOMPLISHED.
]

THE SHOE TO BE PUT ON SIX WEEKS AFTER DIVISION OF THE TENDON, AND TO
BE WORN UNTIL UNION IS PERFECTED.
]

The horse, after having the tendon divided, is said to be as strong as ever. The author would, however, object to such an animal being put into the shafts with even a light load behind it, or to its being again used for saddle purposes. The animal, though forbidden these uses, has still a large field of service open to it.

This operation is alike effectual and humane. That the last assertion may not appear based upon a single opinion, the author presents the reader with an engraving taken from a park near Lewes. That animal seemed to have all four limbs contracted, or the hind limbs were flexed and much advanced, to take the weight off the fore members. A foal ran by the side of the creature thus crippled; though it would be supposed no sane person would select such a dam to breed from.

Now had this mare been operated upon, slight pain would have been inflicted. Tendon, unless in a state of inflammation, has no sensation. Relief would have been afforded for the remainder of the life, and though, from her make and shape, the animal might never have held a high station among her breed, still, with straight legs she must have been worth as much for work as with bent limbs she could be valuable for stock purposes.

LAYING OPEN THE SINUSES OF A QUITTOR.

Give no opening medicine to any horse previous to this operation. Every member of the equine race is more likely to be too low from excess of work, than in any degree inflammatory from over-indulgence. Therefore, discard the general practice of preparing the horse with a dose of compound aloes. If the bowels are costive, get them open. But before employing the drastic drug, try what bran mashes and green-meat can effect. The entire strength will be needed to repair the injuries effected with the knife.

Give tonics and high feeding where the symptoms declare the body to be enervated. It is at all times better to operate upon a system having a superabundance of vital energy than upon one in which the powers are at all tardy. Collapse is the greatest enemy the surgeon has to dread. It is true, animals do not, like men, often "shut up" or die while under the operator; but frequently the most skillful surgery is defeated by the horse, after it has been released from the hobbles, never thriving. There may be no disease to be detected; but the body seems to want the strength requisite for recovery. To make this apparent to the reader--two gentlemen shall each perform neurotomy. One shall bungle, yet his patient shall do well. The wounds shall heal by the first intention, and the horse in a fortnight be again delighting its owner. The other shall display the perfection of scientific attainment; yet the horse shall never thrive. The wounds shall ulcerate, and the animal either gnaw the foot or cast the hoof. How can such differences be accounted for but by believing the horse is subject to a peculiar species of chronic collapse?

Rasp the quarter of the horse's foot which has =quittor=, until the soft, light-colored horn of the laminæ is exposed. Then let the hair be cut off around the opening on the coronet, and the foot be carefully cleansed. Afterward throw the horse. Release the quittored leg from the hobbles, and with a steel director probe each sinus. So soon as the instrument is well in, take a sharp-pointed knife and run it carefully down the groove of the director. Then ascertain, with a grooved probe, whether the sinus decreased in diameter, or whether the whole extent of the pipe be laid open. If the smallest portion remains, to which the knife has not reached, use the groove of the probe as a director, and slit it up. Do this to as many sinuses as may exist.

Next place in each sinus a small piece of tow. These pieces of tow should be already divided into short and thin skeins. They should be saturated with chloride of zinc dissolved in spirits of wine, one scruple to the ounce. Put one of these into each sinus, and let the horse up. In three days such of the pieces of tow as have not been removed by the sloughing process may be taken from the wounds, and the foot simply dressed with chloride of zinc and water, one grain to the ounce, squeezed from a sponge, as in the case of open joint.

This operation, when described, reads abhorrent; but it is really most humane. It is a common thing for a horse to be three, or even six months under treatment, on account of an ordinary quittor. During the entire space, the foot--the tenderest part of the horse's body--is burned with violent caustics, and has had heated wires thrust down its sinuses. By the operation proposed, the affair is settled in a few minutes. The horse seldom evinces much sensibility while the knife is being employed; in three days the animal is so far recovered as to allow the diseased member almost to be left to nature. The horse should, however, on no account do any work before the hoof is in some measure restored. Until the outer covering of dark horn has grown down, a bar shoe, well eased off the diseased quarter, should be worn. When the hoof is reproduced, instead of false quarter or other deformities, the usual results of quittor, it is all but impossible to decide which has been the affected foot, and which was operated upon.

* * * * *

The author has now stated at length that treatment which the horse for its own sake deserves, and which, for the honor of the being whom it serves, the animal should receive. He has, designedly, rather appealed to the reason of his readers than sought to enlist their feelings. The subject was, indeed, a wide one. Man has hitherto been too content to consider animals as something given absolutely to him to be treated according to his sovereign will or merest pleasure. He has not reflected that, when he was created lord of this earth, he was invested with a title which had its responsibilities as well as its privileges.

ALPHABETICAL SUMMARY.

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE FOREGOING MATTER, ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.

This abbreviation is made for the purpose of hasty consultation, when the symptoms exhibited by the horse are so urgent as will not allow the owner to refer to the body of the book. That, however, he is earnestly recommended to do after the first anxiety has subsided; because what follows is to be regarded only as notes of cases, and by no means to be viewed as a substitute for the more detailed descriptions of diseases and their treatment.

ABSCESS OF THE BRAIN.

_Cause._--Some injury to the head.

_Symptoms._--Dullness; refusal to feed; a slight oozing from a trivial injury upon the skull; prostration, and the animal, while on the ground, continues knocking the head violently against the earth until death ensues.

_Treatment._--None of any service.

ABDOMINAL INJURIES.

_Ruptured Diaphragm_ generally produces a soft cough; sitting on the haunches or leaning on the chest may or may not be present; the countenance is haggard.

_Ruptured Spleen_ answers to the tests described under "Hemorrhage of the Liver."

_Ruptured Stomach_ is characterized by excessive colic, followed by tympanitis.

_Introsusception_ possibly may be relieved by the inhalation of a full dose of chloroform; but the result is always uncertain.

_Invagination_ is attended with the greatest possible agony.

_Strangulation_ is not to be distinguished, during life, from invagination.

_Calculus_ causes death by impactment; but however different the causes of abdominal injury may be, they each produce the greatest agony, which conceals the other symptoms, and makes all such injuries apparently the same while the life lasts.

ACITES, OR DROPSY OF THE ABDOMEN.

_Cause._--Chronic peritonitis.

_Symptoms._--Pulse hard; head pendulous; food often spoiled; membranes pallid; mouth dry. Pressure to abdomen elicits a groan; turning in the stall calls forth a grunt. Want of spirit; constant lying down; restlessness; thirst; loss of appetite; weakness; thinness; enlarged abdomen; constipation and hide-bound. Small bags depend from the chest and belly; the sheath and one leg sometimes enlarge; the mane breaks off; the tail drops out. Purgation and death.

_Treatment._--When the symptoms first appear give, night and morning, strychnia, half a grain, worked up to one grain; iodide of iron, half a drachm, worked up to one drachm and a half; extract of belladonna, one scruple; extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency; apply small blisters, in rapid succession, upon the abdomen: but if the effusion is confirmed, a cure is hopeless.

ACUTE DYSENTERY.

_Cause._--Some acrid substance taken into the stomach.

_Symptoms._--Abdominal pain; violent purgation; the feces become discolored, and water fetid; intermittent pulse; haggard countenance; the position characterizes the seat of anguish. Perspiration, tympanitis, and death.

_Treatment._--Give sulphuric ether, one ounce; laudanum, three ounces; liquor potassæ, half an ounce; powdered chalk, one ounce; tincture of catechu, one ounce; cold linseed tea, one pint. Repeat every fifteen minutes. Cleanse the quarters; plait the tail; inject cold linseed tea. The whole of the irritating substance must be expelled before improvement can take place.

ACUTE GASTRITIS.

_Cause._--Poison; generally given to improve the coat.

_Symptoms._--Excessive pain, resembling fury.

_Treatment._--Give, as often and as quickly as possible, the following drink: Sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each three ounces; carbonate of magnesia, soda, or potash, four ounces; gruel, (_quite cold_,) one quart. Should the pulse be sinking, add to the drink carbonate of ammonia, one drachm. If corrosive sublimate is known to be the poison, one dozen raw eggs should be blended with each drench. If delirium be present, give the medicine as directed for tetanus, with the stomach pump.

ACUTE LAMINITIS.

_Cause._--Often man's brutality. Horses driven far and upon hard roads are exposed to the disorder. Any stress long applied to the foot, as standing in the hold of a ship, may generate the affection.

_Symptoms._--The pace seems odd toward the end of the journey; but the horse is placed in the stable with plenty of food for the night. Next morning the animal is found all of a heap. Flesh quivering; eyes glaring; nostrils distended, and breath jerking; flanks tucked up; back roached; head erect; mouth closed; hind legs advanced under the belly; fore legs pushed forward; fore feet resting upon the heels, and the limbs moved as though the horse were dancing upon hot irons.

_Treatment._--Put on the slings in silence. To the end of the cords append weights. Soak the feet in warm water, in which a portion of alkali is dissolved. Cut out the nails from the softened horn. Before the shoes are removed give half a drachm of belladonna and fifteen grains of digitalis, and repeat the dose every half hour until the symptoms abate. When the slings are up, open the jugular vein; abstract one quart of blood, and inject one pint of luke-warm water. Clothe the body; place thin gruel and green-meat within reach, and leave two men to watch for the first three nights.

Next morning give sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each two ounces, in a pint of water. Should the pastern arteries throb, open the veins and place the feet in warm water. While the affection lasts, pursue these measures; and it is a bad symptom, though not a certain one, if no change for the better takes place in five days.

ALBUMINOUS URINE.

_Cause._--Unknown.

_Symptoms._--These consist of the positions assumed by the horse. The legs are either stretched out or the hind feet are brought under the body. Straddling gait, and much difficulty in turning within the stall. Some urine being caught, it is thick, and answers to certain chemical tests.

_Treatment._--Bleed moderately; give a laxative, and apply mustard to the loins. As after-measures, perfect rest, attention to diet, and repeated doses of opium.

APHTHA.

_Cause._--Unknown.

_Symptoms._--Small swelling on the lips; larger swellings upon the tongue. As the disease progresses, a clear liquid appears in each swelling. The bladders burst, crusts form, and the disease disappears.

_Treatment._--Soft food, and the following wash for the mouth: Take borax, five ounces; honey or treacle, two pints; water, one gallon. Mix.

BLOOD SPAVIN.

A disease never encountered at the present time.

BOG SPAVIN.

_Cause._--Brutality of some kind.

_Symptom._--A puffy swelling at the front of and at the upper part of the hock.

_Treatment._--Pressure, maintained by means of an India-rubber bandage.

BOTS.

_Cause._--Turning out to grass.

_Treatment._--No remedy. Wait till the following year, and the parasites will be ejected naturally.

BREAKING DOWN.

_Cause._--Violent exertion; generally when racing.

_Symptoms._--The horse, when going, suddenly loses power to put one leg to the ground. The foot is turned upward; pain excessive; breathing quickened; pulse accelerated; appetite lost. In time these symptoms abate, but the leg is disabled for life.

_Treatment._--Bleed and purge, or not, as the symptoms are severe. Place a linen bandage round the injury, and see that this is kept constantly cold and wet; put on a high-heeled shoe, and leave the issue to nature. The animal is afterward serviceable only to breed from.

BROKEN KNEES.

_Causes._--Terrifying a horse, or rendering alive only to fear. Pulling in the chin to the breast, or driving with a tight bearing-rein.

_Symptoms._--The horse falls; the knee may only be slightly broken, but deeply contused. A slough must then take place, and open joint may result. Or the animal may fall, and, when down, be driven forward by the impetus of its motion. The knee is cut by the fall, and the skin of the knee may be forced back by the onward impulse. This skin will become dirty; but the removed integument will fly back on the animal's rising, thus forming a kind of bag containing and concealing foreign matter.

_Treatment._--Procure a pail of milk-warm water and a large sponge. Dip the sponge in the pail, and squeeze out the water above the knee. Continue to do this, but do not dab or sop the wound itself. The water flowing over the knee will wash away every impurity. Then with a probe gently explore the bag. If small, make a puncture through the bottom of the bag; if large, insert a seton, and move it night and morning until good pus is secreted: then withdraw the seton. "Rack up" the horse's head, and get some cold water, to every quart of which add two ounces of tincture of arnica. Pour a little of this into a saucer, and then dip a sponge into the liquid. Squeeze the sponge dry above the joint. Do this every half hour for three and a half days, both by day and night. If at the end of that time all is going on well, the head may be released; but should the knee enlarge and become sensitive, while the animal refuses to put the foot to the ground, withdraw the seton; give no hay, but all the oats and beans that can be eaten, with two pots of stout each day. Place the quadruped in slings; apply the arnica lotion until a slough takes place; then resort to the chloride of zinc lotion, one scruple to the pint, and continue to use this as has been directed.

BROKEN WIND.

_Causes._--Old age, prolonged work, and bad food.

_Symptoms._--Short, dry, hacking cough, caused by irritability of the larynx; ravenous appetite; insatiable thirst; abundant flatus. Dung half digested; belly pendulous; coat ragged; aspect dejected. Respiration is performed by a triple effort; inspiration is spasmodic and single; expiration is labored and double. The ribs first essay to expel the air from the lungs; these failing, the diaphragm and abdominal muscles take up the action. Broken wind can be set or concealed for a time by forcing the animal to swallow quantities of grease, tar, or shot. A drink of water, however, will always reproduce the symptoms.

_Treatment._--No cure. Relief alone is possible. Never give water before work. Four half pails of water to be allowed in twenty-four hours. In each draught mingle half an ounce of phosphoric acid or half a drachm of sulphuric acid. Remove the bed in the day; muzzle at night; put a lump of rock-salt and of chalk in the manger. Never push hard or take upon a very long journey.

BRONCHITIS.

_Causes._--Riding far and fast; then leaving exposed, especially to the night air; neglect and constitutional liability.

_Symptoms._--Appetite often not affected; sometimes it is increased. A short cough, in the first instance; breathing only excited; legs warm; mouth moist; and nasal membrane merely deeper color during the early stage. When confirmed, the appetite is lost; the horse is averse to move; the cough is sore and suppressed; the breathing is audible; the membranes are scarlet; the mouth is hot and dry; the legs are cold; the body is of uneven temperatures.

_Treatment._--Do not deplete. Place in a large, loose box; fill the place with steam; apply scalded hay to the throat; fix flannels wet with cold water to the back and side by means of a Mackintosh jacket. When the flannel becomes warm, change it immediately. Do this for two hours. After that space the flannel may remain on, but must not become dry. Prepare half a pound of melted Burgundy pitch, and stir into it two ounces of powdered camphor, with half a drachm of powdered capsicums. Apply the mixture to the throat. To restore tone to the pulse, give, every half hour, sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each one ounce; water, one pint. If no effect be produced by three of these drinks, substitute infusion of aconite, half an ounce; extract of belladonna, half a drachm, rubbed down in water, a quarter of a pint. When the pulse has recovered, resume the former physic, only adding half a drachm of belladonna to each dose. Support with gruel. Introduce food gradually; "chill" the water; be careful of hay, and mind, when given, it is thoroughly damped.

BRONCHOCELE.

_Symptom._--An enlargement on the side of the throat.

_Treatment._--Give the following, night and morning: Iodide of potassium, half a drachm; liquor potassæ, one drachm; distilled water, half a pint. Also, rub into the swelling the accompanying ointment: Iodide of lead, one drachm; simple cerate, one ounce.

BRUISE OF THE SOLE.

_Cause._--Treading on a stone or some projecting body.

_Symptom._--Effusion of blood into the horny sole.

_Treatment._--Cut away the stained horn, and shoe with leather.

CALCULI.

_Causes._--Unknown.

_Symptoms of Renal Calculus._--Urine purulent, thick, opaque, gritty, or bloody; back roached. Pressure on the loins occasions shrinking; the arm in the rectum and the hand carried upward provoke alarm.

_Treatment._--Two drachms of hydrochloric acid in every pail of water; but the result is dubious.

_Symptoms of Cystic Calculus._--Same states of urine as in renal calculus. The water, when flowing forth, is suddenly stopped; every emission is followed by straining; the back is hollowed; the point of the penis is sometimes exposed; and, when going down hill, the animal often pulls up short.

_Treatment of Cystic Calculus._--Examine per rectum. An operation for the horse, or Mr. Simmonds's instrument for the mare, is imperative. When the stone is small, hydrochloric acid may be tried.

_Symptoms of Urethral Calculus._--Suppression of urine; great suffering. If the urethral calculus is impacted in the exposed portion of the urethra, the passage is distended behind the stoppage.

_Treatment of Urethral Calculus._--Cut down upon and remove the substance.

CANKER.

_Cause._--Old horses, when "turned out" for life as pensioners; aged and neglected animals will also exhibit the disease.

_Symptoms._--Not much lameness. The disease commences at the cleft of the frog; a liquid issues from the part, more abundant and more abominable than in thrush; it often exudes from the commissures joining the sole to the frog. The horn firstly bulges out; then it flakes off, exposing a spongy and soft substance, which is fungoid horn. The fungoid horn is most abundant about the margin of the sole, and upon its surface it flakes off. This horn has no sensation. The disease is difficult to eradicate when one fore foot is involved. When all four feet are implicated, a cure is all but hopeless, and the treatment is certain to be slow and vexatious.

_Treatment._--See that the stable is large, clean, and comfortable; note that the food is of the best; allow liberal support; pare off the superficial fungoid horn, and so much of the deep seated as can be detached. Apply to the diseased parts some of the following: Chloride of zinc, half an ounce; flour, four ounces. Put on the foot without water. To the sound hoof apply chloride of zinc, four grains; flour, one ounce. Cover the sound parts before the cankered horn is dressed; tack on the shoe; pad well and firmly. When places appear to be in confirmed health, the following may be used: Chloride of zinc, two grains; flour, one ounce. At first, dress every second day; after a time, every third day, and give exercise as soon as possible.

CAPPED ELBOW.

_Cause._--Injury to the point of the elbow.

_Symptom._--It is often of magnitude, and is liable to ulcerate and become sinuous.

_Treatment._--The same as capped hock.

CAPPED HOCK.

_Cause._--Any injury to the point of the calcis.

_Symptom._--A round swelling on the point of the hock, which, should the cause be repeated, often becomes of great size.

_Treatment._--If small, set several men to hand-rub the tumor constantly for a few days. Should the capped hock be of magnitude, dissect out the enlargement, without puncturing it. Remove none of the pendulous skin. Treat the wound with the lotion of chloride of zinc--one grain to the ounce of water--and it will heal after some weeks.

CAPPED KNEE.

_Cause._--The same as the previous affection.

_Symptom._--A soft tumor in front of the knee.

_Treatment._--If let alone, it would burst and leave a permanent blemish. Draw the skin to one side, and with a lancet pierce the lower surface of the tumor. Treat the wound as an open joint.

CATARACT.

_Cause._--Looking at white walls, or receiving external injuries. Specific ophthalmia generates a permanent cataract.

_Symptoms._--When partial, shying; if total, white pupil and blindness.

_Treatment._--Color the inside of the stable green, as cataract, when not total, is sometimes absorbed.

CHOKING.

_Causes._--Something impacted in the gullet, either high up or low down.

_Symptoms._--_High Choke._--Raised head; saliva; discharge from the nostrils; inflamed eyes; haggard countenance; audible breathing; the muscles of neck tetanic; the flanks heave; the fore feet paw and stamp; the hind legs crouch and dance; perspiration; agony excessive. _Low Choke._--The animal ceases to feed; water returns by the nostrils; countenance expresses anguish; saliva and nasal discharge; labored by seldom, noisy breathing; roached back; tucked-up flanks, while the horse stands as though it were desirous of elevating the quarters.

_Treatment._--_Make haste when high choke is present._ Perform tracheotomy to relieve the breathing; insert the balling-iron, or, with a hook extemporized out of any wire, endeavor to remove the substance from the throat. If the choking body is too firmly lodged to be thus removed, sulphuric ether must be inhaled to relax the spasm. The ether not succeeding, an egg is probably impacted. Destroy its integrity with a darning-needle carefully inserted through the skin; then break the shell by outward pressure. _Low choke is seldom fatal before the expiration of three days._ Give a quarter of a pint of oil every hour; in the intermediate half hours give sulphuric ether, two ounces; laudanum, two ounces; water, half a pint; and use the probang after every dose of the last medicine. Should these be returned, cause chloroform to be inhaled; then insert the probang, and, by steady pressure, drive the substance forward.

Subsequent to the removal of impactment feed with caution.

CHRONIC DYSENTERY.

_Cause._--Not well understood; generally attacks old horses belonging to penurious masters.

_Symptoms._--Purging without excitement, always upon drinking cold water; violent straining; belly enlarges; flesh wastes; bones protrude; skin hide-bound; membranes pallid; weakness; perspiration; standing in one place for hours. At last the eyes assume a sleepy, pathetic expression; the head is slowly turned toward the flanks; remains fixed for some minutes; the horse only moves when the bowels are about to act; colic; death.

_Treatment._--Give, thrice daily, crude opium, half an ounce; liquor potassæ, one ounce; chalk, one ounce; tincture of all-spice, one ounce; alum, half an ounce; ale, one quart. Should the horse belong to a generous master, give one of the following drinks thrice daily, upon the symptoms being confirmed: Sulphuric ether, one ounce; laudanum, three ounces; liquor potassæ, half an ounce; powdered chalk, one ounce; tincture of catechu, one ounce; cold linseed tea, one pint. Or, chloroform, half an ounce; extract of belladonna, half a drachm; carbonate of ammonia, one drachm; powdered camphor, half a drachm; tincture of oak-bark, one ounce; cold linseed tea, one pint. Feed lightly; dress frequently; give a good bed and a roomy lodging.

CHRONIC GASTRITIS.

_Symptoms._--Irregularity of bowels and appetite; pallid membranes; mouth cold; a dry cough; tainted breath; sunken eye; catching respiration; pendulous belly; ragged coat, and emaciation. Sweating on the slightest exertion; eating wood-work or bricks and mortar.

_Treatment._--Do not purge; administer bitters, sedatives, and alkalies. Give powdered nux vomica, one scruple; carbonate of potash, one drachm; extract of belladonna, half a drachm; extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency. Or give strychnia, half a grain; bicarbonate of ammonia, one drachm; extract of belladonna, half a drachm; sulphate of zinc, half a drachm; extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency. Give one ball night and morning; when these balls seem to have lost their power, give half an ounce each of liquor arsenicalis and tincture of ipecacuanha, with one ounce of muriated tincture of iron and laudanum, in a pint of water; damp the food; sprinkle magnesia on it. As the strength improves, give sulphuric ether, one ounce; water, one pint, daily. Ultimately change that for a quart of ale or stout daily.

CHRONIC HEPATITIS.

_Cause._--Too good food and too little work.

_Symptoms._--Cold mouth; pallid membranes; white of eyes ghastly, displaying a yellow tinge; looks toward the right side; the right side may be tender for a long time, with generally repeated attacks of this nature, although the horse may perish with the first fit.

_Treatment._--Hold up the head, and if the horse staggers, this proves hemorrhage from the liver. Give sufficient of nutritious food, but only enough of it, plenty of labor, and the following physic: Iodide of potassium, two ounces; liquor potassæ, one quart; dose, night and morning, two tablespoonfuls in a pint of water.

CLAP OF THE BACK SINEWS.

_Cause._--Extra exertion.

_Symptoms._--The maimed limb is flexed; the toe rests upon the ground. In a short space a tumor appears; it is small, hot, soft, and tender, but soon grows hard. Great pain, but attended with few constitutional symptoms.

_Treatment._--Administer physic, and bleed gently; then give a few doses of febrifuge medicine, but go no further than to reduce the pulse to fifty-five degrees. Put a linen bandage on the leg; keep this constantly wet until the primary symptoms abate. Cut grass for food while fever exists; continue the cold water till recovery is confirmed. The horse will not be fit to work for many months.

COLD.

If mild, a little green-meat, a few mashes, an extra rug, and a slight rest generally accomplish a cure.

_Symptoms_ of severe cold are dullness; a rough coat; the body of different temperatures; the nasal membrane deep scarlet, or of a leaden color; the appetite is lost; simple ophthalmia; tears; the sinuses are clogged, and a discharge from the nose appears.

_Treatment._--Give no active medicine. Apply the steaming nose-bag six times daily; allow cut grass and mashes for food, with gruel for drink. If weak, present three feeds of crushed and scalded oats and beans daily, with a pot of stout morning and evening. Good nursing, with pure air, warmth, and not even exercise, till the disease abates, are of more importance than "doctor's stuff" in a case of severe cold. Cold, however, often ushers in other and more dangerous diseases.

CONGESTION IN THE FIELD.

_Cause._--Riding a horse after the hounds when out of condition.

_Symptoms._--The horse, from exhaustion, reels and falls. The body is clammy cold; the breathing is labored; every vein is turgid.

_Treatment._--Bleed, if possible; cover the body; lead gently to the nearest stable; keep hot rugs upon the animal; bandage the legs and hood the neck; warm the place, either by a fire or tubs full of hot water. Give, without noise, every half hour, one ounce of sulphuric ether, half an ounce of laudanum, half a pint of cold water. Should no chemist be at hand, beat up two ounces of turpentine with the yolk of an egg; mix it with half a pint of water, and repeat the dose at the times stated. Allow an ample bed, and place a pail of gruel within easy reach of the horse. Do not leave the animal for thirty hours, as in that time its fate will be decided.

CONGESTION IN THE STABLE.

_Cause._--A debilitated, fat horse, unused to work, being driven fast with a heavy load behind it.

_Symptoms._--Hanging head; food not glanced at; blowing; artery gorged and round; pulse feeble; cold and partial perspirations; feet cold; eye fixed; hearing lost; and the attitude motionless.

_Treatment._--Give immediately two ounces each of sulphuric ether and of laudanum in a pint of cold water. Give the drink with every caution. In ten minutes repeat the medicine, if necessary. Wait twenty minutes, and give another drink, if requisite; more are seldom needed. Take away all solid food, and allow gruel for the remainder of the day.

CORNS.

_Cause._--In a flat foot, the heels of the coffin-bone squeeze the sensitive sole by pressing it against the shoe. In a contracted foot, the sensitive sole is squeezed between the wings of the coffin-bone and the thick, horny sole. A bruise results; blood is effused; and the stain of this left upon the horny sole--generally upon the inner side and anterior to the bars--constitutes a horse's corn, which is mostly found on the fore feet.

_Symptom._--If the stain is dark, and is to be removed with the knife, this indicates a corn has been, but no longer exists. The smallest stain of bright scarlet testifies to the existence of a new and present corn. Corns are of four kinds--the old, the new, the sappy, and the suppurative. The old and new are produced by the blood, and are judged by the scarlet or dark-colored stain. The old is generally near the surface, the new is commonly deep seated. The sappy is when the bruise is only heavy enough to effuse serum. The new corn alone produces lameness. The suppurating corn may start up from either of the others receiving additional injury. It causes intense pain and produces acute lameness.

_Treatment._--Cut out the stain. If a suppurating corn, place the foot in a poultice, after having opened the abscess. Then, the horn being softened, cut away all the sole which has been released by the pus from its attachment to the secreting surface. Tack on an old shoe, and dress with the solution of the chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce. Afterward shoe with leather, and employ stopping to render the horn plastic.

COUGH.

_Causes._--Foul stables; hot stables; coarse, dusty provender; rank bedding; irregular work; while the affection may attend many diseases.

_Treatment._--Crush the oats; damp the hay; give gruel or linseed tea for drink. Clothe warmly, and give, thrice daily, half a pint of the following in a tumbler of water: Extract of belladonna, one drachm, rubbed down in a pint of cold water; tincture of squills, ten ounces; tincture of ipecacuanha, eight ounces. No change ensuing, next try--Barbadoes or common tar, half an ounce; calomel, five grains; linseed meal, a sufficiency: make into a ball, and give one night and morning. This being attended with no improvement, employ--Powdered aloes, one drachm; balsam of copaiba, three drachms; cantharides, three grains; common mass, a sufficiency. Mix, and give every morning.

A daily bundle of cut grass is good in the spring of the year. A lump of rock-salt has been beneficial. If the animal eats the litter, muzzle it. Roots are good. Moisten the hay; and, above all things, attend to the ventilation of the stable.

CRACKED HEELS.

_Cause._--Cutting the hair from the heels, and turning into a straw-yard during winter.

_Symptoms._--Thickened skin; cracks; and sometimes ulceration.

_Treatment._--Wash; dry thoroughly; apply the following wash: Animal glycerin, half a pint; chloride of zinc, two drachms; strong solution of oak-bark, one pint. Mix. If ulceration has commenced, rest the horse. Give a few bran mashes or a little cut grass to open the bowels. Use the next wash: Animal glycerin, or phosphoric acid, two ounces; permanganate of potash, or creosote, half an ounce; water, three ounces: apply six times daily. Give a drink each day composed of liquor arsenicalis, half an ounce; tincture of muriate of iron, one ounce; water, one pint.

CRIB-BITING.

_Cause._--Sameness of food and unhealthy stables, or indigestion.

_Symptoms._--Placing the upper incisors against some support, and, with some effort, emitting a small portion of gas.

_Treatment._--Place a lump of rock-salt in the manger; if that is not successful, add a lump of chalk. Then damp the food, and sprinkle magnesia upon it, and mingle a handful of ground oak-bark with each feed of corn. Purify the ventilation of the stable before these remedies are applied.

CURB.

_Causes._--Galloping on uneven ground; wrenching the limb; prancing and leaping.

_Symptom._--A bulging out at the posterior of the hock, accompanied by heat and pain, often by lameness.

_Treatment._--Rest the animal. Put on an India-rubber bandage, (see page 307,) and under it a folded cloth. Keep the cloth wet and cool with cold water. When all inflammation has disappeared, blister the hock.

CYSTITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER.

_Causes._--Kicks and blows under the flank. Abuse of medicine, and bad food, with the provocatives generally of nephritis.

_Symptoms._--Those common to pain and inflammation. Urine, however, affords the principal indication. At first, it is at intervals jerked forth in small quantities. Ultimately it flows forth constantly drop by drop. A certain but a dangerous test is to insert the arm up the rectum, and to feel the small and compressed bladder. A safer test is to press the flank, which, should cystitis be present, calls forth resistance.

_Treatment._--Give scruple doses of aconite, should the pulse be excited; the same of belladonna, should pain be excessive; and calomel with opium, to arrest the disease. Place under the belly, by means of a rug, a cloth soaked with strong liquor ammonia diluted with six times its bulk of water. Or apply a rug dipped into hot water or loaded with cold water; change when either becomes warm.

DIABETES INSIPIDUS, OR PROFUSE STALING.

_Causes._--Diuretic drugs or bad food.

_Symptoms._--Weakness loss of flesh; loss of condition.

_Treatment._--Do not take from the stable; keep a pail of linseed tea in the manger; give no grass or hay; groom well. Order a ball composed of iodide of iron, one drachm; honey and linseed meal, a sufficiency. Or a drink consisting of phosphoric acid, one ounce; water, one pint. Give the ball daily; the drink, at night and at morning.

ENTERITIS.

_Causes._--Greatly conjectural. Prolonged colic may end in it. Constipation may induce it.

_Symptoms._--Dullness heaviness; picks the food; shivers repeatedly; rolling; plunging; kicking, but more gently than in spasmodic colic; quickened breathing; hot, dry mouth; wiry pulse. Pressure to the abdomen gives pain. Remove your coat; insert the arm up the anus; if the intestines are very hot, all is confirmed.

_Treatment._--Extract one quart of blood from the jugular, and inject into the vein one pint of water at a blood heat. Give aconite in powder, half a drachm; sulphuric ether, three ounces; laudanum, three ounces; extract of belladonna, one drachm, (rubbed down in cold water, one pint and a half.) As the pulse changes, withdraw the aconite; as the pain subsides, discontinue the belladonna. The other ingredients may be diminished as the horse appears to be more comfortable. Should the pain linger after the administration of the eighth drink, apply an ammoniacal blister. Sprinkle on the tongue, if any symptoms declare the disease vanquished but not fled, every second hour, calomel, half a drachm; opium, one drachm. Feed very carefully upon recovery, avoiding all things purgative or harsh to the bowels.

EXCORIATED ANGLES OF THE MOUTH.

_Cause._--Abuse of the reins.

_Treatment._--Apply the following lotion to the part: Chloride of zinc, two scruples; essence of anise seed, two drachms; water, two pints.

FALSE QUARTER.

_Cause._--Injury to the coronet, producing an absence of the secreting coronet of the crust from the hoof.

_Symptoms._--No lameness, but weakness of the foot. The soft horn of the laminae, being exposed, is apt to crack. Bleeding ensues. Sometimes granulations sprout when the pain and the lameness are most acute.

_Treatment._--In cases of crack and granulations, treat as is advised for sandcrack. Put on a bar shoe, with a clip on each side of the false quarter. Pare down the edges of the crack, and ease off the point of bearing on the false quarter. A piece of gutta-percha, fastened over the false quarter, has done good.

FARCY.

_Causes._--Excessive labor, poor food, and bad lodging operating upon old age.

_Symptoms._--It is at first inflammation of the superficial absorbents. Lumps appear on various parts. If these lumps are opened, healthy matter is released but the place soon becomes a foul ulcer, from which bunches of fungoid granulations sprout. From the lumps may be traced little cords leading to other swellings. The appetite fails, or else it is voracious. Matter may be squeezed through the skin. Thirst is torturing. At length glanders breaks forth, and the animal dies. There is a smaller kind of farcy called button-farcy the smaller sort is the more virulent of the two.

_Cure._--There is no known cure for the disease.

FISTULOUS PAROTID DUCT.

_Causes._--Hay-seeds or other substances getting into the mouth of the duct during mastication. Stones being formed within the canal. The stable-fork in the hand of an intemperate groom.

_Symptoms._--The duct greatly enlarges behind the obstacle, which, becoming swollen, prevents the secretion from entering the mouth. Great agony is occasioned by every mouthful masticated. The duct bursts, and a fistulous opening is established, through which the saliva jerks at each motion of the jaw. From the absence of a secretion important to digestion, the flesh wastes, and the animal soon assumes a miserable appearance.

_Treatment._--Make an adhesive fluid with gum mastic and spirits of wine, or with India-rubber and sulphuric ether. When the horse is not feeding, pare the hardened edges from the wound; cover the orifice with a piece of strained India-rubber; over this put a layer of cotton; fasten one end to the horse's cheek by means of the adhesive fluid; that having dried, fasten the other end tightly down. Place other layers of cotton over this, allowing each layer to cross the other, and fastening all to the cheek. Fasten the head to the pillar-reins; allow the horse to remain till the cotton falls off, and give only gruel for food. Put tan under the feet; and should the first trial not succeed, repeat it.

FISTULOUS WITHERS.

_Cause._--External injury, generally by the lady's saddle, which bruises one of the bursæ placed above the withers.

_Symptoms._--When first done, a small, round swelling appears on the off side. If this is neglected, the place enlarges, and numerous holes burst out, which are the mouths of so many fistulous pipes.

_Treatment._--In the early stage, go to the horse's side, impale the tumor and divide it. Touch the interior with lunar caustic; keep the wound moist with the chloride of zinc lotion, one grain to the ounce of water, and cover it with a cloth dipped in a solution of tar. If the sinuses are established, make one cut to embrace as many as possible. Clean out the corruption. Scrape or cut off any black or white bone which may be exposed. Cover with a cloth, and keep wet with the solution of chloride of zinc. Should there exist a long sinus leading from the withers to the elbow, insert a seton by means of the guarded seton needle. This seton should be withdrawn so soon as a stream of creamy pus is emitted.

FUNGOID TUMORS IN THE EYE.

_Cause._--Unknown.

_Symptoms._--Blindness; a yellow, metallic appearance to be seen in the eye.

_Treatment._--None of any service.

GLANDERS.

_Cause._--Bad lodging, stimulating food, and excessive work operating upon young life.

_Symptoms._--Staring coat; lungs or air-passages always affected; flesh fades; glands swell; spirit low; appetite bad. A lymphatic gland adheres to the inside of the jaw; the membrane inside the nose ulcerates; a slight discharge from one nostril. This becomes thicker, and adheres to the margin of the nostril, exhibiting white threads and bits of mucus; then it changes to a full stream of foul pus; next the nasal membrane grows dull and dropsical; the margins of the nostrils enlarge; the horse breathes with difficulty; the discharge turns discolored and abhorrent; farcy breaks forth, and the animal dies of suffocation.

_Treatment._--There is no known cure.

GREASE.

_Causes._--Age; debility; excessive labor; neglect; filth. Cutting the hair off the heels; turning out to grass in the cold months.

_Symptoms._--Scurfiness and itchiness of the legs. Rubbing the leg with the hoof of the opposite limb; hairs stand on end; moisture exudes, and hangs upon the hairs in drops. Smells abhorrently; lameness; cracks on the skin; swelling; ulceration; thin discharge; odor worse. Lameness increases; leg enlarges; granulations sprout in ragged bunches; their points harden and become like horn; pain excessive; horn of hoof grows long.

_Treatment._--Cut off all remaining hair. If hot and scurfy, cleanse with mild soap and hot, soft water; saturate a cloth with the following lotion: Animal glycerin, half a pint; chloride of zinc, half an ounce; water, six quarts. Lay it upon the leg. When this cloth becomes warm, remove it, and apply another, also wet with the lotion; thus continue applying cool cloths to the limb till the heat abates; afterward moisten the leg thrice daily. When cracks and ulceration are present, adopt the wet cloths; but subsequently use one of the following to the sores: Permanganate of potash or phosphoric acid, one pint; water, six quarts. Or, chloride of zinc, one ounce; water, one gallon: employ thrice daily. If the granulations have sprouted, remove them with a knife, in three operations, (_full directions are given in the book;_) likewise always place in a loose box. Feed liberally; allow old beans; give a handful of ground oak-bark with each feed of oats. Night and morning exhibit liquor arsenicalis, one ounce; tincture of muriate of iron, one ounce and a half; porter or stout, one quart: one pint for the dose. Chopped roots; speared wheat; hay tea; cut grass, and exercise are all good for grease.

GUTTA SERENA.

_Cause._--Over-exertion.

_Symptoms._--Fixed dilatation of the pupil; a greenish hue of the eye; total blindness. Active ears; restless nostrils; head erect; high stepping; occasionally a rough coat in summer and a smooth coat in winter.

_Treatment._--No remedy is possible.

HEART DISEASE.

_Symptoms._--Auscultation. The beat of the heart to be seen externally; haggard countenance; pulse feeble; heart throbs; the beat of the carotid artery is to be felt; the regurgitation in the jugular is to be seen. The appetite is sometimes ravenous--often fastidious; the breathing is not accelerated excepting during pain; lameness of one leg; dropsical swellings; stopping short when on a journey; averse to turn in the stall; noises; yawns; sighs. Death always unexpected. No treatment is of any use.

HEMATURIA, OR BLOODY URINE.

_Cause._--Unknown.

_Symptoms._--Discoloration of the fluid. When the bleeding is copious, breathing is oppressed; the pupils of the eyes are dilated. Pulse is lost; head is pendulous; membranes are pale and cold. Lifting up the head produces staggering. Back roached; flanks tucked up; legs wide apart.

_Treatment._--Be gentle. Act upon the report given. Give acetate of lead, two drachms, in cold water, one pint; or, as a ball, if one can be delivered. In a quarter of an hour repeat the dose, adding laudanum, one ounce, or powdered opium, two drachms. Repeat the physic till one ounce of acetate of lead has been given. Leave the horse undisturbed for two hours, if the symptoms justify delay. If not, dash pailfuls of cold water upon the loins from a height. Give copious injections of cold water. Pour half a pint of boiling water upon four drachms of ergot of rye. When cold, add laudanum, one ounce, and dilute acetic acid, four ounces. Give two of these drinks, and two cold enemas, of twenty minutes' duration. Suspend all treatment for eight hours, when the measures may be repeated. (_For after proceedings, see the article which is presented in the body of the book._)

HIDE-BOUND.